Urban air pollution evaluation in downtown streets of a medium-sized Latin American city using AERMOD dispersion model.

Abstract

The transport sector is considered the largest contributor of air pollutants in urban areas, mainly on-road vehicles, affecting the environment and human health. Bahía Blanca is a medium-sized Latin American city, with high levels of traffic in the downtown area during peak hours. In this regard, it is necessary to analyze air pollution using an air quality model considering that there are no air pollutant measurements in the central area. Furthermore, this type of study has not been carried out in the region and since the city is expected to grow, it is necessary to evaluate the current situation in order to make effective future decisions. In this sense, the AERMOD model (US-EPA version) and the RLINE source type were used in this work. This study analyzes the variations of pollutant concentrations coming from mobile sources in Bahía Blanca's downtown area, particularly carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) during the period Jul-2020 to Jun-2022. It is interesting to note the results show the maximum concentration values detected are not directly associated with maximum levels of vehicle flow or emission rates, which highlights the importance of meteorological parameters in the modeling. In addition, alternative scenarios are proposed and analyzed from a sustainable approach. Regarding the scenario analysis, it can be concluded that diesel vehicles have a large influence on NOx emissions. Moreover, restrictions as strict as those proposed for a Low Emission Zone would be less applicable in the city than alternative temporary measures that modify traffic at peak hours.